Comparing Past Aprils
Only two more months left of my semi-amusing experiment. I usually welcome the month of April as it's the arrival of spring and have had some good ones over the years...
April 1984 vs. April 1994 vs. April 2004
Winner: 1994--Easy pick here. For whatever reason I just had a spring in my step by this point in 1994 as things were looking a little bit brighter in a number of different realms, some of which I touched upon in my March 1994 review. Between analyzing "MacGyver" with a couple of buddies every day in 10th grade study hall, eagerly anticipating the upcoming "MacGyver" movie scheduled to finally air in May, and stumbling into country radio at its peak creative period, there was just a lot going on to get excited about.
April 1985 vs. April 1995 vs. April 2005
Winner: 2005--At one level it was kind of scary to be out of a job following the previous month's termination from the newspaper where I had worked for three years, but more than anything else it was a relief to have that burdened lifted from me. Since I was living in the boonies and wanted to focus my job search elsewhere and find something good, it was helpful to get unemployment from the newspaper that canned me, and frankly it was kind of nice forcing them to pay me a little "severance". With all my extra free time during the day, it was fun watching some "Magnum, P.I." reruns on daytime TV and take my annual April road trip across the Minnesota River Valley on a weekday. After nearly 156 weeks of nonstop stress at the newspaper, it just felt good to have some downtime more than anything else.
April 1986 vs. April 1996 vs. April 2006
Winner: 2006--Meh. None of these three were great but I was enjoying my new life working for the state of Iowa in the final throes of my first legislative session, with great seasons of "Prison Break" and "24" lighting up my TV screen, and, at the end of the month, taking my first road trip of what would be an annual event exploring new territory in (mostly) Iowa and Missouri. For this maiden voyage in late April, I took to the highways to explore a bunch of towns in southern Iowa and northern Missouri that my dad talked about during the years he worked on the railroad. Despite being a rainy day, it was a good trip. It was also, interestingly, the same day I activated my very first cell phone, late to the party to that as I am with most everything technological.
April 1987 vs. April 1997 vs. April 2007
Winner: 2007--A couple of tough choices here. Back in 1987, my first schoolboy crush was confirmed as my cousin revealed my interest in my favorite third grade girl and she started behaving differently towards me--in a good way--for the rest of the year. But April 2007 was the month I met Elise, arguably the ex-girlfriend I connected best with, as unlikely as that seemed the night I was introduced to her over the television by the girl I was dating at the time who I had no interest in. My long hours working the legislative session the last week of the month slowed our momentum some as I missed a date with her, but we regained that momentum the following month. Never was I more thrilled at the moment session ended than I was around midnight that Saturday night knowing how great the rest of spring and summer seemed poised to be.
April 1988 vs. April 1998 vs. April 2008
Winner: 1988--Ewww.....three rotten choices this time, and 1988 definitely wins by default. The first two months of 1988 would have been an easy choice between my going-well elementary love affair and my ascendant Nickelodeon obsession, but I crashed into a wall one Wednesday evening in late April when I got in more trouble than I ever did as a boy with my parents for forging my mom's signature on a letter that was sent home to her from my fourth grade teacher and was leveled a punishment that lasted the rest of the school year in which--cue screams of terror--"MacGyver" was taken away from me! The fact that this month was the best of the three should speak volumes of how terrible my 1998 and 2008 was, struggling through a miserable semester at college and working extra overtime at peak overtime season to make up for sidelined co-workers in those respective years.
April 1989 vs. April 1999 vs. April 2009
Winner: 1989--I only competed once at the regional Cub Scout Pinewood Derby in Albert Lea. I won three years in a row at the local pack meetings in New Richland but never moved onto the regional derby facing off against over 100 other cars until April 1989....and I won! On top of that, I was acing my studies with straight A's in fifth grade and was enjoying the peak creative period of "MacGyver" on TV. Things were going much better for me in the spring of 1989 than the previous spring!
April 1990 vs. April 2000 vs. April 2010
Winner: 2000--Three pretty good choices here. Even 2010 wasn't bad as I started seeing Courtney back then. But far and away the best was April 2000, when I was in the final months of college with a group of enjoyable classes and the end in sight after a not-all-that-enjoyable four years of my life. My best memory from April 2000 was my all-time favorite road trip to the Buffalo Ridge on a steamy upper-80s Saturday in late April. My mom came with on that trip and made for good company, and the energy was just electric for whatever reason even though I had visited most of these places at least once before. I've logged on around 200 road trips over the years and this one still ranks among my top-five best.
April 1991 vs. April 2001 vs. April 2011
Winner: 2011--All decent choices but my fateful meeting with Lizz in mid-April 2011 helps that month rise above its challengers (although by the time April 2001 came after the longest winter of my life, that was pretty awesome too). By all conventional metrics, Lizz and I should not have connected and even though we only lasted a couple of months it was a pretty intense couple of months and I definitely look back fondly at those days when I kept wondering if this was really happening.
April 1992 vs. April 2002 vs. April 2012
Winner: 2002--Working at the newspaper was still new enough at this point that I hadn't yet grown to hate it, but just living on my own at my own place has an exciting allure at the time, particularly with growing prospects of a summer encounter with Dana and with my aggressive revisiting of the musical stylings of 80s country crooner Sylvia with a special tape that an obsessed fan graciously made for me. To this day, when I recall those early weeks working at the newspaper, the music of Sylvia accompanies those memories. A solid runner-up to 1992 when I finally got to see the last episode of "MacGyver" and was excitedly piecing together USA reruns of the show on videotape whenever I visited my grandma's place.
April 1993 vs. April 2003 vs. April 2013
Winner: 2013--Seems like this grouping always sucks and this year is no exception. I got back together with Courtney this month which was a little exciting and helps this one rise above its miserable competition. That's about all I have to say about it though.
One month left and my experiment is complete. It's been fun and I look forward to revisiting May in another 30 days or so.
April 1984 vs. April 1994 vs. April 2004
Winner: 1994--Easy pick here. For whatever reason I just had a spring in my step by this point in 1994 as things were looking a little bit brighter in a number of different realms, some of which I touched upon in my March 1994 review. Between analyzing "MacGyver" with a couple of buddies every day in 10th grade study hall, eagerly anticipating the upcoming "MacGyver" movie scheduled to finally air in May, and stumbling into country radio at its peak creative period, there was just a lot going on to get excited about.
April 1985 vs. April 1995 vs. April 2005
Winner: 2005--At one level it was kind of scary to be out of a job following the previous month's termination from the newspaper where I had worked for three years, but more than anything else it was a relief to have that burdened lifted from me. Since I was living in the boonies and wanted to focus my job search elsewhere and find something good, it was helpful to get unemployment from the newspaper that canned me, and frankly it was kind of nice forcing them to pay me a little "severance". With all my extra free time during the day, it was fun watching some "Magnum, P.I." reruns on daytime TV and take my annual April road trip across the Minnesota River Valley on a weekday. After nearly 156 weeks of nonstop stress at the newspaper, it just felt good to have some downtime more than anything else.
April 1986 vs. April 1996 vs. April 2006
Winner: 2006--Meh. None of these three were great but I was enjoying my new life working for the state of Iowa in the final throes of my first legislative session, with great seasons of "Prison Break" and "24" lighting up my TV screen, and, at the end of the month, taking my first road trip of what would be an annual event exploring new territory in (mostly) Iowa and Missouri. For this maiden voyage in late April, I took to the highways to explore a bunch of towns in southern Iowa and northern Missouri that my dad talked about during the years he worked on the railroad. Despite being a rainy day, it was a good trip. It was also, interestingly, the same day I activated my very first cell phone, late to the party to that as I am with most everything technological.
April 1987 vs. April 1997 vs. April 2007
Winner: 2007--A couple of tough choices here. Back in 1987, my first schoolboy crush was confirmed as my cousin revealed my interest in my favorite third grade girl and she started behaving differently towards me--in a good way--for the rest of the year. But April 2007 was the month I met Elise, arguably the ex-girlfriend I connected best with, as unlikely as that seemed the night I was introduced to her over the television by the girl I was dating at the time who I had no interest in. My long hours working the legislative session the last week of the month slowed our momentum some as I missed a date with her, but we regained that momentum the following month. Never was I more thrilled at the moment session ended than I was around midnight that Saturday night knowing how great the rest of spring and summer seemed poised to be.
April 1988 vs. April 1998 vs. April 2008
Winner: 1988--Ewww.....three rotten choices this time, and 1988 definitely wins by default. The first two months of 1988 would have been an easy choice between my going-well elementary love affair and my ascendant Nickelodeon obsession, but I crashed into a wall one Wednesday evening in late April when I got in more trouble than I ever did as a boy with my parents for forging my mom's signature on a letter that was sent home to her from my fourth grade teacher and was leveled a punishment that lasted the rest of the school year in which--cue screams of terror--"MacGyver" was taken away from me! The fact that this month was the best of the three should speak volumes of how terrible my 1998 and 2008 was, struggling through a miserable semester at college and working extra overtime at peak overtime season to make up for sidelined co-workers in those respective years.
April 1989 vs. April 1999 vs. April 2009
Winner: 1989--I only competed once at the regional Cub Scout Pinewood Derby in Albert Lea. I won three years in a row at the local pack meetings in New Richland but never moved onto the regional derby facing off against over 100 other cars until April 1989....and I won! On top of that, I was acing my studies with straight A's in fifth grade and was enjoying the peak creative period of "MacGyver" on TV. Things were going much better for me in the spring of 1989 than the previous spring!
April 1990 vs. April 2000 vs. April 2010
Winner: 2000--Three pretty good choices here. Even 2010 wasn't bad as I started seeing Courtney back then. But far and away the best was April 2000, when I was in the final months of college with a group of enjoyable classes and the end in sight after a not-all-that-enjoyable four years of my life. My best memory from April 2000 was my all-time favorite road trip to the Buffalo Ridge on a steamy upper-80s Saturday in late April. My mom came with on that trip and made for good company, and the energy was just electric for whatever reason even though I had visited most of these places at least once before. I've logged on around 200 road trips over the years and this one still ranks among my top-five best.
April 1991 vs. April 2001 vs. April 2011
Winner: 2011--All decent choices but my fateful meeting with Lizz in mid-April 2011 helps that month rise above its challengers (although by the time April 2001 came after the longest winter of my life, that was pretty awesome too). By all conventional metrics, Lizz and I should not have connected and even though we only lasted a couple of months it was a pretty intense couple of months and I definitely look back fondly at those days when I kept wondering if this was really happening.
April 1992 vs. April 2002 vs. April 2012
Winner: 2002--Working at the newspaper was still new enough at this point that I hadn't yet grown to hate it, but just living on my own at my own place has an exciting allure at the time, particularly with growing prospects of a summer encounter with Dana and with my aggressive revisiting of the musical stylings of 80s country crooner Sylvia with a special tape that an obsessed fan graciously made for me. To this day, when I recall those early weeks working at the newspaper, the music of Sylvia accompanies those memories. A solid runner-up to 1992 when I finally got to see the last episode of "MacGyver" and was excitedly piecing together USA reruns of the show on videotape whenever I visited my grandma's place.
April 1993 vs. April 2003 vs. April 2013
Winner: 2013--Seems like this grouping always sucks and this year is no exception. I got back together with Courtney this month which was a little exciting and helps this one rise above its miserable competition. That's about all I have to say about it though.
One month left and my experiment is complete. It's been fun and I look forward to revisiting May in another 30 days or so.
posted by Mark at 9:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home